As Astros fans, we have all been very interested in who is going to lead the team back to contention on the field. We knew that Jim Crane would be the financial backing and the Jeff Luhnow would be the brains of the whole operation, but who would it be on the field. Parts of the fan base were growing tired of Brad Mills before the season even started, but he definitely deserved time to prove he was capable of the job. As the season wore on, grumblings started to grow louder and Luhnow came out and said Mills would be evaluated at the end of the season. Then, he was fired and our own David Coleman summarized the situation perfectly. He had a bad team and got a rough go of it, but Mills didn't fit this new organization.
So, the search began. It's been a busy month (plus a few days) of searching and there were definitely plenty of distractions, including Roger Clemens. So, let's take a look at the timeline of what all has happened.
August 19-Tony DeFrancesco named interim manager
August 21-Per Astros County, Brad Ausmus interviewed for manager job. Immediately refuted by the club, but later came out that he did in fact interview for the job.
August 23-John Heyman reports nine names rumored to be considered.
August 28-Jeff Luhnow spoke with Brian McTaggart about the process and what they're looking for.
September 11-McTaggart reports that Tony D. is in the running for the full-time job.
September 12-McTaggart tweets that Craig Biggio is assisting in the interview process. He also reports that Jim Crane told him they've narrowed their candidates to 6-8 names.
September 12-Ken Rosenthal tweets that Jim Riggleman has not been contacted for the manager job. Luhnow had previously worked with Riggleman in St. Louis.
September 13-Things are starting to heat up with McTaggart reporting that Bo Porter is set to interview.
September 14-Larry Bowa "discusses baseball related matters" and Tony D. gets official interview. Dave Martinez also gets an interview.
September 18-Jim Crane gives a timeline for a decision and Larry Bowa out of the running. Tim Bogar gets his interview. McTaggart also clarifies the timeline that they will be sensitive on timing of the announcement for coaches still in the playoff hunt.
September 20-Nick Cafardo tweets that Tim Bogar and Dave Martinez are the front runners.
September 21-Rosenthal confirms that Ausmus interviewed but is not considering it.
September 25-Jeff Luhnow tells McTaggart that the list of 45 candidates was cut to nine and is now even smaller. Crane says the list is down to 3-4.
September 26-Lance Berkman endorses Bogar in an interview with Zachary Levine.
September 26-News breaks that Bo Porter will be named the new manager the following morning.
September 27-Bo Porter named new manager officially.
A lot of little things happened over the course of the search. How do you feel about the candidates? Was the front office playing it too close to the chest? Do we know enough about what the team was looking for? Should Lance Berkman have any thoughts on the search while saying he wants to play for a contender? Are you happy with the involvement that Biggio has?